By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. regulators are allowing two more companies, UPS Flight Forward and uAvionix, to operate drones beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS), the Federal Aviation Administration said on Wednesday.
UPS Flight Forward with its Matternet M2 can conduct small-package delivery using a ground-based surveillance system from Raytheon, while uAvionix can use the Vantis Network to test its detect and avoid technology, the FAA said.
UPS plans to conduct flights in North Carolina, Florida, Ohio and potentially other states from its Remote Operations Center (ROC) in Kentucky, the FAA said.
The agency on Aug. 24 authorized Phoenix Air Unmanned to operate SwissDrones SVO 50 V2 drones beyond visual line of sight.
The FAA is working to develop rules to make drone operations out of the line of sight “routine, scalable and economically viable.”
The FAA’s long-term plan is to safely integrate drones into the National Airspace System rather than dedicate separate airspace exclusively for drones.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Writing by Susan Heavey; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Mark Porter)
